


Hidden Realms: Ghosts and Ghost Pokemon in Mythology and Lore

by elijah_was_a_prophet



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Annotated Bibliography, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23075416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elijah_was_a_prophet/pseuds/elijah_was_a_prophet
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11
Collections: Worldbuilding Exchange 2020





	Hidden Realms: Ghosts and Ghost Pokemon in Mythology and Lore

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rosencrantz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosencrantz/gifts).



**Works Cited**

Abatantuono, Humeya. _Psychopomp._ Kricketune Records, 3513. 
    Descended from generations of Celestic Town shrine maidens, Abatantuono uses recorded chants and traditional songs in combination with a variety of found sounds and distorted loops of her own voice to try and recreate the experiences described in _The Book of Forty-Nine Travels_. The text describes how Giratina takes recently deceased souls through all the levels of the afterlife before delivering them into their next incarnation, a process during which the family does mourning rituals to improve the deceased’s karma. Abatantuono overlays recordings of these rituals with harsh noise stylings, contrasting the warm world of the living with the terrifying and torturous world of the dead. Soothing bells and chimes are mixed with her throaty screams, and a punishing drum solo is cut with readings from the Plate Verses. The contrasts between old and new, soft and loud, and death and life turn Abatantuono’s work into a modern classic.
Albu, Spirita. “One Foot Out the Door: Near-Death Experiences of the Lake Valour Culture”. _Archaeology Today,_ vol. 207, no. 5, 3510, pp. 30-39.

    Albu writes on the Lake Valour Culture, a group of people who lived in the stretch of land between the Great Marsh and Sunyshore Cliffs over 5,000 years ago. A 3508 archaeological expedition had discovered burial jars and stone artefacts on the slopes leading into nearby Sendoff Spring; Albu continued this work by rappelling down to the lakeshore, where her research party discovered Turnback Cave. Over the course of seven months researchers from Snowpoint and Hearthome Universities explored the cave, discovering pristine cave paintings and proto-Sinnohan inscriptions detailing a ritual known as “conscious death”. Participants would wander the caves until collapse, falling into a deep meditative state where it was believed the spirits of the dead would talk to them. Scattered bones suggested that many of them did not make it. Albu concludes that the spiritual energy from the combination of ritual and burial is why Dusclops are so common in the surrounding forest, and suggests further exploration with Psychic pokemon.
    

Aiken, Erkin. “We Lived Under This Land: Driftloon and the Valley Windworks”. _Journal of Pokemon_ _Spiritology,_ vol. 76, no. 4, 3501, pp. 12-26.

    Aiken’s article concerns theories on why Drifloon congregate at the Valley Windworks. He uses the Van Gent-Satoshi protocol to evaluate five of the most popular ones: wind currents, turbine vibrations, spiritual memories, breeding colonies in the Flora River, and psychic ley lines. Turbine vibrations are quickly disproven due to the abundance of Drifloon pre-Windworks, and breeding colonies are a certain impossibility in the fast flowing Flora River. Aiken then uses a group of tame Flabebe to track wind currents, discovering that the hills alongside the Windworks mean that the Drifloon should be congregating over Floaroma Meadows. A breakthrough was achieved when a Silph Co. Lens was brought in from Hearthome University and the massive number of ghostly traces could be seen. Historical research and a small excavation revealed that the Windworks were built on a mass plague grave, the energies of which attract Ghost Pokemon such as Drifloon. For discovering this Aiken received the Hearthome Lavender Ribbon, awarded to researchers who make significant advances in the study of Ghost Pokemon.

Borst, Olalla and Kaufer, Atiya. “Who Goes There Upon the Stair? Haunted and Spiritually Active Buildings.” _Architecture Annually,_ vol. 52, no. 1, 3518, pp. 202-23.

    The two authors compare buildings across multiple regions that are believed to be haunted, chronicling both folklore and urban legend. While initially focusing on well-known locations such as Lavender Town, special attention is given to more recently discovered hauntings such as the Old Chateau and the Marvelous Bridge. Borst and Kaufer do not attempt to explain the hauntings, instead focusing on the incidents that are believed to have caused them and the symbols and signs of apparitions that observers have recorded. A major gap within the writing is the lack of attention to Ghost Pokemon and their possible role in reports of hauntings. Spiritologists will have to wait until subsequent editions to see this oversight corrected. 

Fujiwara, Ryuutaro. _Bells._ Blackthorn, 3374. 

    In the New Republic period descendants of the Blackthorn dynasty turned to a variety of careers, from politics to the clergy to academia. Among the latter was Ryuutaro Fujiwara, who became one of the first Johto-born Dragon Tamers to visit Unova in over a century. While abroad he noted the similarities between the bell atop Dragonspiral Tower and the bell atop the Tin Tower, inspiring a seven year analysis of bells across multiple regions. Relying only on his Dragonite and a supply of Rage Buns, Fujiwara traveled to ten regions in his efforts to complete the 1,473 page work. It is hampered only by its incredible length, as the attention to detail and sensitivity to tradition are impeccable. A valuable source for researchers of both architecture and iconography. 

Katona, Divna _Ho-Oh and Lugia, Rulers of Death._ Translated by Tia Innes, Smeargle House, 3458.

    Breaking with traditional Johto scholars, in this book Katona claims that both Ho-Oh and Lugia are not from opposing traditions but instead represent variations on a common theme of birth, destruction, and death. She points to Ho-Oh’s association with the sun, wildfires, and the reincarnation of victorious souls next to Lugia’s association with the moon, tsunamis, and a pure land of eternal bliss where compassionate souls are one. Her argument is further supported through selections from the Alph Codex, including wall art and sacrificial objects. The comparison of Ho-Oh and Lugia’s duality to the duality of Kanto and Johto is inspired, especially when considering that _The Towers_ and _A Fire In the City_ were both written during the Blackthorn Dynasty’s unification efforts. Although some of Katona’s theories were later disproven, her interpretive work is watertight and remains relevant to multicultural studies over 60 years later.

Kynatson, Kohar and Payne, Mani. _Kanto-Johto Syncretism: A Student’s Approach._ 4th ed., Stone, 3509.

    The fourth edition of this popular textbook, in keeping with recent developments, has added sections on Unown script and its important role in the development of a common Kanto-Johto culture. Tracking the script from its earliest origins in the Tanoby Chambers, the authors expand upon the inscriptions within the Ruins of Alph and their significance in showing the linguistic common ground between ancient Kanto and Johto. Other topics added this edition include the similarities between the Sevii Islands and Johto weather deity trios, the foundation of the Tohjo Falls Demilitarized Zone after the Vermillion War, and the importance of the Indigo Plateau to the Blackthorn dynasty. 

Mullane, Samuel. _Descent Into the Land of the Dead._ 3421\. Museum of Modern Art, Lilycove. 

    A Galaran native who moved to Sinnoh in 3404, Mullane was so moved by the traditions and mythology of Sinnoh that he dedicated the remainder of his life to chronicling them in art form. Using his immense talent with oils and prior experience painting murals he created the massive _Descent Into the Land of the Dead_ series. Totaling six paintings, the cycle shows a human dying and being taken to the spirit world by Giratina. They are led through the seven layers of the spirit world before being judged by Arceus, who reincarnates them into a flower paradise. Intensely vibrant in both color and detail, the paintings are unique in being some of the first non-woodblock depictions of Sinnoh mythology. 

Shin, Mi-Gyeong et al. _Alolan Ghosts: Lineage of the Ula’ula Royal Culture._ Heahea University UP, 3498.

    A team of six authors write about the ancient Alolan royal family, which reigned for almost a millennium before the Second Unovan War and subsequent colonization destroyed it. They begin with an account of Akeakamai, the founder of the dynasty, and continue all the way down to the Trial Captain and current heir Accerola. Using geological records, Memorial Hill tombs, and oral history the team attempts one of the most comprehensive records of ancient Alola. Their approach treats archeology as fact, however, and is dismissive of many aspects of Alolan oral history despite its proven accuracy and prestige. Widespread critique of the book by native Alolan scholars has resulted in it falling out of disuse, but the pictures and descriptions of Memorial Hill’s crypts remain vital after several tombs were flooded in the 3509 typhoon.

Thornburn, Anila K. _Legends and Myths of the Sinnoh Region._ Canalave University Press, 3478.

    Thornburn’s work offers a comprehensive summary of traditional Sinnohan religion and mythology, starting with the great egg of Arceus and ending with the traditional “Ballad of Giratina’s Ascent ''. Her detached style of analysis and relaxed explanations of the natural phenomenon that gave rise to these myths are combined with pen and ink illustrations of her own design based on illuminated bestiaries kept in the Canalave Library’s restricted section. While an important foundational text for the Sinnohan branch of classical studies, Thornburn’s work contains significant biases against practitioners of Sinnohan traditional religion and uses outdated language for the translations in many sections. Her interpretations of the myths are also best skipped, as she uses a lens of contemporary politics that is less than truthful to their origins and meanings within a pre-Trainer culture.

Vasilyeva, Roza I. “My Father’s Ghost: Dream Visitations On Sinnoh’s Moon Islands.” International Conference On Oneirology, 17 July 3519, Tide Song Hotel, Heahea City, Akala Island. Guest Lecturer.
    Vasilyeva speaks on the results of her two-year research project in the Moon Islands, where the local people refer to the dead as “living in the world of dreams”. Using Canalave University equipment, Vasilyeva was able to determine that islanders in a coma-like state known as dreamlock were surrounded by spiritual energy similar to that seen in graveyards and other places of death. Interviews with those who recovered from dreamlock revealed them to be knowledgeable of events that happened while they were unconscious. They attributed this to their dead relatives, saying that their ancestors updated them on current news while they wandered the dream world. The deceased are capable of giving information to the living as well- in one notable incident a man was able to report his father’s murderer after falling into dreamlock during the trial. Vasilyeva concludes that the phenomenon of the dead communicating through dreams is based in fact, and encourages further research to determine why the islanders have this ability.

Yamamato, Kyo. “Snorunt Sexual Dimorphism and Stone Based Evolution.” _Cryobiology_ , vol. 3, no 1, 3507, pp. 155-180.

    Wataru attempts to answer the question of why Froslass are exclusively female, while Glalie can be either male or female. He visits Lake Acuity, where Froslass are the most abundant, and observes two instances of Snorunt evolving into Froslass upon finding Dawn Stones. Spectroscopy of a collected Dawn Stone reveals it to have a similar structure to the rocky core that Spiritomb emerges from. Exposing male Snorunt to the Dawn Stone has no effect, while exposing a female Snorunt causes it to evolve and destroys the stone. Wataru concludes that there must be a spiritual or ghostly aspect to Dawn Stones that is only taken out of stasis by an aspect of the female Snorunt’s physiology. How or why a Pokemon that isn’t a Ghost type can achieve this is unknown and unanswered.


End file.
